Last summer the future of Thomas Lemar was one of the biggest stories of the transfer window.

After a title-winning season with Monaco, during which the French winger played a key role to sending his side into the last four of the Champions League, he stood out as one of the most sought after players in Europe.

For Arsenal and Liverpool, the Frenchman was an obvious choice to replace Alexis Sanchez and Philippe Coutinho, respectively. Chelsea meanwhile were on the look out for some high class reinforcements to build upon their victory in the Premier League.

Liverpool were linked as suitors to come in for the 22-year-old in January. He had been identified as a potential replacement for Coutinho in the summer but it wasn't until the new year that the Brazilian left Anfield to join Barcelona.

Instead, Jurgen Klopp and his recruitment team pursued other targets with Lemar beset by injury as Monaco's challenge to Paris Saint-Germain fell away. Manager Leonardo Jardim saw four of the key players from his title-winning team sold in the summer of 2017.

Keeping up with their opponents from the capital was never going to be easy, even before they splurged for Neymar and Kylian Mbappe - the Monaco wonderkid who found so much joy playing off Lemar through the middle, especially in the Champions League.

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However, regardless of this season of regression, it could be said that the winger is now back on track to join a club whose interest predated the links to Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool.

Atletico Madrid were lined up as favourites to sign the Frenchman back in 2018, only for a transfer ban to put paid to their plans to bring him to Spain, opening up the possibility of a switch to England.

They have now officially announced an agreement with Monaco to sign Lemar. It's all over for the London clubs and their Liverpudlian rivals yet Atleti were always the front-runners until the authorities got involved.

Perhaps the bigger question now is what his transfer means for the future of Antoine Griezmann.

If Lemar was the story of the 2017 summer transfer window, his compatriot could be the focal point of the market this year.